Senate recommends 34 county assemblies to get extra cash

A Senate committee has recommended that 34 county assemblies receive an additional Sh2.5 billion for operations.

The Committee on Finance made the recommendation after the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) petitioned the Senate for an extra Sh4.4 billion.

CAF argued that the Sh25 billion allocated to them was insufficient to carry out operations, including remunerations.

Committee chairman Billow Kerrow (Mandera), yesterday confirmed that following extensive deliberations over the budget ceilings proposed by the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA), the affected assemblies were justified to seek additional funds.

"The 34 county assemblies will received Sh2.5 billion more, bringing the total allocation to Sh27.5 billion. The Forum argued their case, detailing why they need to be adequately resourced to discharge their constitutional mandate effectively," said Mr Kerrow.

He continued, "We have considered the petition and we are in agreement as a committee that the funds are not enough to carry out assembly operations. The money shared out on pro-rata basis was going to exposed the assemblies to numerous challenges.

He said the budget ceilings will be in force for a year.

Minority Leader Moses Wetang'ula (Bungoma), Kerrow, Peter Mositet (Kajiado), Anyang' Nyong'o (Kisumu), Zipporah Kittony (Nominated), Agnes Zani (Nominated) and Catherine Mukiite (Nominated) yesterday while considering the draft recommendation on the budget ceilings to the assembles, stressed on the importance of oversight.

They said the assembles are still performing below standards, when it comes to their oversight role over county executives.

critical areas

The forum, which is an umbrella body that brings together county speakers and ward representatives had censured CRA for overlooked some critical areas before imposing the ceilings and exposing them to manipulation by county executives.

The assemblies have protested the CRA budget ceilings on the salaries and operations, which is 30 per of the total allocation to every assembly.

Appearing before the committee, the forum officials said there are areas that require more funding.